THE ongoing national discourse regarding administrative restructuring, governance failures and the creation of new administrative units has really gained afresh momentum. While debates over institutional reforms and provincial realignments dominate political talk shows these days, ordinary citizens experience governance not in voluminous macro-level policy white papers, but on the asphalt beneath the tyres oftheirvehicles.
Driving through Islamabad today, always known for and celebrated as a meticulously planned, world-class federal capital, one is hard-pressed to disagree with the federal interior minister’s diagnosis of the problem that the country is said to be suffering from.Massive potholes, uneven patchworl(, missing lane markings and brol(en surfacing plague primary arteries and sector avenues alil(e. These are not merely cosmetic nuisances; they represent serious road safety hazards, vehicle damage and unnecessary traffic congestion in a city designed around mobility and order. If the institutional framework has, indeed, brol(en down, the antidote begins with immediate and visible municipal action.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) operates under the direct oversight of the Ministry of Interior. Before overhauling the national map or lamenting a systemic collapse, the government has an immediate, actionable opportunity: directing the CDA to begin a comprehensive, quality-assured road repair and maintenance drive across the federal capital. True administrative reform is proven through service delivery. Restoring Islamabad’s roads would demonstrate that basic operational action can still take place within the existing framework.
Ahmed Qadir Islamabad